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GoPro Unveils New Hero6 and Fusion Spherical Cameras

GoPro today unveiled the latest version of its Hero line of wearable action cameras and its first spherical device for virtual-reality video.

The waterproof Hero6 carries the same exterior design over from the Hero 5. But it uses GoPro's custom-designed processor called "GP1" and offers digital zoom, greater image stabilization and other improved features. GoPro claims that the new GP1 processor offers improved dynamic range, extensive manual controls, enhanced color reproduction and better lowlight performance.

Compared to the Hero 5, the new Hero supports slo-mo frame rates, which have largely been doubled across the board. That means you can shoot 4K at 60 frames per second, 2.7K at 120 and 1080p now goes all the way up to 240 FPS. The electronic image stabilization is also improved (it's now six, rather than four axes), though still no OIS, yet.

Other improvements include faster 5GHz Wi-Fi speeds, linear zoom and a new HDR mode.

The new camera still shoots 12-megapixel photos, in JPG or RAW, and GoPro's Wide Dynamic Range mode. But it will supposedly perform better in low light than the Hero 5 Black, too.

The Hero 6 is also rugged as ever and waterproof out of the box to 33 feet. It has GPS, a 2-inch LCD touchscreen on the back, voice controls, and some instant-offloading and instant-editing features to help with the inevitable backlog of footage.

The camera is compatible with the QuickStories application, which automatically creates short videos from the captured content.

The Hero 6 has a price tag of $500.

The Fusion camera, which can capture 360-degree video, will sell for $700.

The camera uses two lenses to shoot up to 5.2K video at 30 frames per second, can take 18-megapixel spherical photos, and capture 360-degree sound. It's waterproof up to 16 feet out of the box, and is compatible with "most" GoPro mounts, according to the company.

Fusion also supports GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, it is equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass that the camera uses in concert to stabilize the spherical footage.

GoPro says the Fusion supports "OverCapture," which is a term that actually refers to a few different ways that users can manipulate the footage they shoot with Fusion. Instead of shooting in 360 degrees and posting in 360 degrees, OverCapture allows users to reimagine all that visual information in more traditional, flat, 1080p videos.

OverCapture also allows you to punch out a 1080p frame, or a still photo, from the 360-degree sphere of imagery.